38 



HANDBOOK OF ANTS, BEES, ETC. 



{Myrmeleon curopceiis)^ which is abundant in sandy places in the 

 south of Europe, is a slender and elegant creature, with large 

 finely reticulated rings. The larva, to which the name of 

 "Ant Lion" properly belongs, is of a stout form and a greyish- 

 yellow colour, covered with warty processes and with hairs. Its 



Fig. 44. — IMyrmeleon Larva. 



food consists of ants and other small insects, which it captures by 

 a singularly ingenious arrangement, namely, by means of a funnel- 

 shaped pitfall which it constructs in the sand, and at the bottom 

 of which it lies. When any unfortunate insect ventures too near, 

 the Ant Lion sends up a showier of sand, and the victim in its 



Fig. 45. — Nemoptera Coa. 



consternation falls down the pit, where it is speedily seized mid 

 devoured. 



Other species of ant lions are known to occur on the continent 

 of Europe, but none hitherto have been discovered to inhabit this 

 country. 



Family 2, Hemerobiidce, — The second sub-family contains the 

 Lacewing Flies, many representatives of which occur in the British 



